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California has by far the highest cost of living of any state in the nation — and it’s getting worse every year.
But instead of fixing the problem, state and local politicians are dodging responsibility and spiking costs even higher with insane tax hikes and costly new regulations.
The Transparency Foundation recently released a study showing the cost of living in California for a typical middle-class family of three is a shocking $29,753.16 higher than the national average.
The study compared every line item in a household budget to determine how much more expensive that item is in California versus the average cost nationally.
Their cost comparisons show that Californians pay 124% more to own a home, 50% more to rent an apartment, 50% more for gas, 27% more for food, 48% more for water, 45% more for taxes, 51% more for childcare, 101% more for electricity, and 20% more for car insurance.
The only way to fix this cost-of-living crisis is for voters to conduct an intervention at the ballot box in the 2026 midterm elections. Until politicians start losing their seats over the affordability issue, nothing will get fixed.
Reform California, an initiative I founded, is making affordability the top wedge issue in every targeted seat in this November’s state legislative elections.
We need to get the truth out to the voters about why California’s costs are so high. As long as politicians can lie and shift the blame to others, they will never be held accountable and nothing will be fixed.
For example, in the past year Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly blamed California’s entire affordability crisis on President Donald Trump’s tariffs. And for years before that, whenever gas prices rise, Newsom has held a press conference to blame oil companies for “price gouging.”
Earlier this month, Tom Steyer, a Democratic billionaire donor-turned-candidate-for-president-turned-candidate-for-governor, spent millions on campaign ads to blame “monopolies” for high electricity prices.
All of the blame-shifting requires you to believe that tariffs, monopolies and price gouging only happen in California.
The best refutation is the California vs. national cost comparison data in the Transparency Foundation. The numbers prove state and local policies are the real problem.
Last year, I introduced the California Cost of Living Reduction Act (AB 23) to slash taxes, mandates, and regulations automatically when prices for a major household budget item are 10% higher than the national average.
Take health care for example. Due to insane levels of regulation, the average emergency room visit in California costs $3,238, versus only costing $682 in Maryland. The average ambulance ride in California costs $2,407, versus $662 in North Carolina.
Under the approach in AB23, any state agency that taxes or regulates those services would be required to enact cost reductions by benchmarking to the lower-cost states.
While AB23 may not make us the lowest-cost state in every category, it will substantially reduce costs in each area where high prices are caused by bad government policies.
Based on the findings of the Transparency Foundation report, every California family could save at least $10,000 in the first year, and as much as $30,000 per year, once every household line item faces a cost reduction program.
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Opponents will certainly howl by claiming that the taxes and regulations in California serve a purpose — but those claims become hard to make when other states are showing they can deliver quality services at a lower cost.
Another bill I introduced, AB 567, penalizes politicians when they refuse to address a cost-of-living problem by suspending their ability to collect special taxes on that item.
For example, California homeowners are currently being crushed with double-digit percentage increases in home insurance. What they don’t realize is that state politicians collect more tax money when insurance rates spike, due to a special insurance excise tax.
In fact, this year the special insurance tax is the fastest growing revenue stream in the state budget, and will spike to over $4 billion.
Under my AB567 legislation, politicians would forfeit that money, and it would be rebated to homeowners to help them absorb the rate increases.
Put simply, as long as you feel the pain of higher prices, so should the politicians!
In the 1992 presidential election, Democratic political strategist James Carville said the campaign would boil down to one simple focal point: “It’s the economy, stupid!”
In 2026 I’m on a mission to ensure California’s midterm election boils down to, “It’s the cost of living, stupid!” You can join that fight at ReformCalifornia.org.
Carl DeMaio is a Republican member of the California State Assembly from San Diego.